The Solow Growth Model describes a pure production economy where population grows at a constant rate, consumers save a fixed portion of income, and firms produce output according to a Cobb-Douglas production function. The model shows that the per capita capital stock reaches a steady state where the marginal product of capital equals the capital depreciation rate plus population growth rate, divided by the savings rate. The document provides an example comparing the steady state capital stock under different population growth rates and savings rates.

1. The Solow Growth Model
The Solow Growth Model is a model of capital accumulation in a pure production economy: there are no
prices because we are strictly interested in output = real income. Everyone works all the time, so there is no
labor/leisure choice. In fact, there is no choice at all: the consumer always saves a fixed portion of income,
always works, and owns the firm so collects all “wage” income and profit in the form of all output. We will
not need to model the “consumer”.
We assume all people work all the time, and we assume they save, hence invest, a fixed portion of their
income. There is no government, hence no taxation nor subsidies; this is a closed economy, so there is no
trade. Since there are no prices there is no need for money: there are no financial markets, etc.
This model, then, is a model that captures the pure impact savings = investment has on the long run
standard of living = per capita income. Since we allow for population growth, this model may be called the
Blue Lagoon Model (i.e. as opposed to Robinson Crusoe, two people can reproduce).
Ingredients: Consumers and Firms. All consumers own the firms, so consumers receive all output, and
therefore all profit and rent.
Aggregates: Output = Real Income = Y t in period t.
Capital Stock = K t;
Population Size = N t = Labor Supply (since everyone works all the time).
Consumption = C t;
Savings = St;
Investment = I.t.
Per Capita: Output = Real Income = y t = Y t/Nt in period t.
Capital Stock = k t = K t/Nt ;
Consumption = ct = Ct/N t;
Savings = st = St/Nt;
Investment = i. t = I t/N t;
THE POPULATION = THE LABOR SUPPLY
The population grows at a constant rate n:
N 1 N t
n % t  t 
N 1  N t 1 n )N t
1 (
Nt
THE FIRM
The firm produces according to a Cobb-Douglas production function:
Aggregate : Yt AK  N 1
t t

Yt K tN 1
Per Capita : A t
Nt Nt

K  N 1
K t N 1
  
K K 
y t A t t
A t
A t  A t
     Akt

N tN 1
t

N t N 1
t

 t   t
N N 
y t Ak t

2. THE CONSUMER : CONSUMPTION AND SAVINGS
The consumer saves the fraction s of income:
S t sYt and C t (1  )Yt hence Yt Ct S t
s
Notice this reflects the fact that there is no government (no taxes), and no imports/exports (no trade).
EQUILIBRIUM GROWTH
1. POPULATION
If the population size starts at N 0, then
N t 1  ) Nt   1 )(1 )N t    1 )t N 0
( n 1 ( n n 2  ( n
We need only know the initial N0 and the growth rate n to find the population size in any period t.
2. SAVINGS AND INVESTMENT
Since there is no government (no taxes), there are no imports/exports (no trade), consumers receive
everything from the firms, and there are no financial markets, savings is simply investment (the only place
consumers can put their “money”, which is actually output, is simply back into the firm):
I t S t
3. CAPITAL ACCUMULATION
Aggregate capital grows according to the following law of motion:
K t  1  )K t I t
1 ( d
Next periods capital stock is this periods discounted for depreciation (d = depreciation rate), plus whatever
was invested.
Use the above production function and savings = investment identity to deduce per capita capital
accumulation evolves according to:
Kt  (1 d ) Kt  t
1 I
(1  ) Kt  t
d S
(1  ) Kt  t
d sY
(1  ) Kt  tN t1
d sAK 

3. Kt  K K N 1
K K N 1
1
(1  ) t sA t t (1  ) t 
d d sA t t1
Nt Nt Nt Nt Nt Nt 

Nt  K t K K
1 1
(1  ) t 
d sA t
N t N t t
1 Nt Nt
(1 n)kt  (1 d )kt sAkt
1
hence
 
1 d sA 
kt   t 
k kt
  1 
1
1 n n
THE STEADY STATE
The per capita capital stock growths, but at a decreasing rate: see below. Eventually growth converges to
zero. In this long-run steady state
kt   t  *
1 k k
We can explicitly solve for k * as follows:
  * 1
1 d
k *   
k
sA * 
k 
 1
d
sA k *
1


  1 
1 n n 1n
1 n 1  n d

d

sA * 
k
1

 
sA 1
 k*  1

sA
1 n 1  1 
n n 1 n 1  k * 1
n 
 n d
hence

1 /(1  )
 sA 
Steady State k *  
 
n d
*
The steady state level of real income, consumption, savings and investment can all be deduced from k :
/(1 )

 sA 
y* A(k * ) A 
 d 
n
/(1 )

 sA 
i* s * sy* sA 
 
n d
/(1 )

 sA 
c* (1  ) y* (1 s) A
s 
 
n d
EXAMPLE #1
Consider three economies which differ in their savings rate and/or population growth rate:

4. 1 . n 02 s 25 d 07 .75 N 0 K 0 A 
. . . 1
2 . n .08 s 25 d 07 .75 N 0 K 0 A 
. . 1
3. n 02 s .30 d 07 .75 N 0 K 0 A 
. . 1
Economy #2 has a high population growth rate; economy #3 has a high savings rate. Per capita capital
accumulation and the steady state capital stocks are
1 /(1 )
.75
.25  
1
1 . k *   59.54
 07 
.02 .
1 /(1 )
.75
.25  
1
2 . k*   7.716
08 07 
. .
1 /(1 )
 .3  
.75
1
3. k *   123.46
 07 
.02 .
Solow Growth Model
per capita capital k(t) evolution
130
120
110 An inc re a s e in the
100 s a vings ra te
90 inc re a s e s s te a dy
80
k = K/N
s ta te k. A highe r
70 po pula tio n gro wth
60 ra te de c re a s e s
50 s te a dy s ta te k.
40
30
20
10
0
0 50 10 0 150
Time t s = .25, n = .02
s = .25, n = .08
s = .30, n = .02
1. CAPITAL GROWTH TOWARD THE STEADY STATE
Use the definition of growth
k 1 k
% t   t  t
k 1
kt
and the capital accumulation formula

5. 
1 d  
kt   t sAkt
k

1
1 n 
to deduce
k 1 t k
%t   t 
k 1
kt

1 d  sA 
 t  t 
k k kt
1 1  
 
n n 1 d sA 
  1
 kt 1
kt   1
1 n n
 
1 d sA  1  1 d n sA 
  1
 kt 1    kt 1
 n  1 
1 n 1 n 1  1 n
n
1  
d 1 n sA     sA 1
n d
  kt 1  
1n 1n  n  1  k t
1 n 1 
Positive Growth
We need to verify that growth is positive as long as the capital stock k is less than the long-run steady state
level:
   sA 1
n d
Growth is positive %  t  
k 1   0
   1 n k t
1
1 n

1 /(1 )
sA 1 nd 1 sA   sA 
when   sA 1 n d  k 1    t
k
1  kt
1
1 
n  d 
t
n n kt d n
Growth Declines as k Increases
Also, the growth equation shows
 
n d  sA 1 
% t   
k 1   1 

 
1 n  1 n kt  
In other words, as k increases, the growth rate declines. That mathematically verifies the above plots: k is
clearly increasing, but a decreasing rate.
EXAMPLE #2
The growth plots for Example #1 are:

6. Solow Growth Model
per capita capital growth: % k
20%
15%
g=%k
10%
5%
0%
0 50 10 0 150
Time t s = .25, n = .02
s = .25, n = .08
s = .30, n = .02
2. COMPARATIVE STATICS
We can alter the underlying economies in order to inspect what Solow’s model predicts about differing
countries.
2.1 Higher n
The first example clearly shows the for two countries that are identical in every way, except population
growth, the higher growth rate leads to slower capital growth and a lower long run level of per capita
capital.
2.2 Higher s
The first example clearly shows the for two countries that are identical in every way, except the savings
rate, the higher savings rate generates a higher capital growth rate and a higher long run level of per capita
capital.
2.3 Identical Economies, with Difference Initial k 0
Consider two economies, identical in every way except their initial capital stock per capita:
A. n 03 s 4
. . d 07 5
. . N 0 K 0 A 1
B. n 03 s 4
. . d 07 5
. . N 0 A  K 0 4
1
Thus, Economy B starts with four times the level of capital per capita as Economy A.
Notice

7.   A
1 d
k1A  0 
k
sA A
k0  
  1 
1 n n
  B
1 d
k1B  0 
k
sA B
k0   4 d 
 1
 
k A

sA  A
4 k0    d 


1

k 
sA
A
k0A   k
 A
  1  1 1 n 1  1
0 0 1
1 n n n   n  n

because 4 > 1 for any 0 < < 1. And so on.
Economy B will (almost) always have more capital. Why “almost”? Because their steady-states are
identical. The steady state does not depend on initial conditions, and only on technology, saving and
population growth parameters.
Both have

1 /(1  ) 1 /(1 )
.5 2
 sA   .4  
1 4 
.
k*      
 16
 
n d 03 07 
. . 1 
.
Solow Growth Model
per capita capital k(t) evolution:
Two Identical Economies:
one starts with 4x the level of k
20
15
k = K/N
10
5
0
1 51 10 151
Time t s = .5, n = .03, k0 = 1
s = .5, n = .03, k0 = 4
Thus, even economies that are otherwise identical, one can never take-over the other.
3. THE GOLDEN RULE OF SAVINGS
Although a higher savings rate generates more per capita capital with which to generate more output, a
constant increase in s cannot always lead to a higher level of per capita consumption. Clearly a very high
savings rate implies people are consuming very little of that very large amount of output that is being
produced.
Imagine very hard working people, but very hungry, planting a corn crop, and harvesting the corn. Instead
of eating a lot they plant 80% of the kernels. The result is an enormous crop the next season. They again eat
very little, invest 80% of the output toward production, and so on. The total level of output per capital sky-
rockets, but is welfare truly higher? If we measure welfare by consumption clearly it is not.

8. The steady state level of consumption is
Steady State c* (1  ) y* (1 s ) k *
s  
/(1 )

 sA 
(1  )
s 
 
n d
 /(1  )

/(1 )
 A 
c (1 s)s
*
 
 d 
n
Thus, the long-run level of per capita consumption is a function of the savings rate s:
/(1  )

/(1 )
 A 
c (s ) (1 s)s
*
 
 
n d
EXAMPLE #3
*
Consider Economies #1 and #2 in Example #1. We can plot c(s) as a function of s:
Steady State Per Capita Consumption c(s)
as a Function of the Savings Rate s
16 0
The Go ld en Rule
14 0
d o es no t d ep end
12 0 o n n. The Rule s =
10 0 alp ha = .75
g enerat es t he
c(s)
80 hig hes t
60 p o s s ib le s t ead y
s t at e c. A s o ciet y
40
wit h a hig h
20 p o p ulat io n
0
0% 10 % 20% 30% 40% 50 % 60% 70 % 80% 9 0 % 10 0 %
Savings Rate s s = .2 5, n = .0 2
s = .2 5, n = .0 8
There is a clear tug-of-war: a higher s means less consumption, but allows for higher long-run capital
accumulation and therefore higher steady state income. The optimal savings rate is the Golden Rule: the
savings rate the optimizes steady state per capita consumption:
 /(1  )

 A 
max c* (s ) max(1  ) s/(1 ) 
s 
0 
s 1 0 
s 1  d 
n
*
FOCs : c (s ) 0

 /(1  )
  /(1  )

 A    1 A 
: s/(1 )    (1  )s /(1 ) 
s  0
 d 
n 1  d 
n

: 
1 (1  )s  0
s 1
1 

9. 
: (1  ) s
s
1
: 1  ) s (1  )
( s 
: s(1  )  s s
 
GOLDEN RULE : s 

Compare the result to the plots above. For two otherwise identical economies with the same  = .75, the
Golden Rule is s = .75, and indeed the steady state per capita consumption is optimizes in both cases
identically at s = .75.
EXAMPLE #4
Although the Solow Model does not itself build in any sense of a “business cycle”, or suggest anything like
a shock (all plots clearly show the model predicts perfectly uniform growth!), we ourselves can introduce a
shock at any time.
Consider a scenario where an economy experiences two negative shocks, one small and one large, and a
medium positive shock. The small negative shock (at t = 50) is causes by news that a sector (e.g. the energy
sector) has been substantially over invested, profits are predicted to be negative, and therefore investment
capital is withdrawn: k falls by 20%. The large negative shock (at t = 100) is due to a massive storm: k falls
by 50%. The positive shock (at t = 150) is due to a capital infusion by the International Monetary Fund: k
instantly increases by 15%.
S ol ow Growth Mode l
pe r capi ta capi tal k (t) e vol u ti on :
Ne gati ve s h ock at t = 50: k drops by 20%.
Ne gati ve sh ock at t = 100: k drops by 50%.
Posti i ve sh ock at t = 150: k i n cre ase s by 15%
60
Neg at ive S ho cks
50 red uce t he cap it al
s t o ck, b ut g ro wt h is
k(t)
40 hig her at lo wer k, and
k = K /N
t he s t ead y s t at e k is
30 always t he s ame.
20
y(t)
10
0
1 51 101 151
Time t
k(t ) y(t )
The Solow Model is a very simple model in the final analysis: at whatever point or state the economy is in,
growth immediately occurs (fast if k is small, slow if k is large), while the standard of living y slowly
approaches the long-run steady state.
SOLOW MODEL AND REALITY
The Solow Model predicts growth is always positive, but slowly declines to zero. Economies with a high
population growth rate can never take-over. In fact, otherwise identical economies where one simply starts
with a smaller level of per capita capital, will never take-over to the other economy.

10. Nevertheless, the Solow Model does correctly predict that higher population growth rates, and lower
savings = investment rates are associated with lower growth levels, and lower standards of living.